Like THAT is going to last
by HelenTheMoon
Summary: One-shot. MASSIVE spoilers for Spider-Man 2099 - don't read this if you haven't finished the series. Miguel is finally back home... But at what cost?


**Disclaimer: I do not own Spider-Man 2099.**

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**"Like _that's_ going to last."**

He left them behind.

The woman he loved. _His son._ The woman who loved him and accepted him fully, despite all the weirdness – and the _added_ weirdness. The son he only met for a few short minutes, in the completely wrong order.

Tempest. Gabriel. There was probably some paradox in naming Gabriel. And Tempest? God, she didn't even know he was _alive._

He should really stop praying to someone he doesn't believe in.

Around him the fireworks were going wild. 2100. The twenty-second century. Miguel had become so fixated on 2099, that the passing of the year felt surreal. Pretty ironic, for a guy who jumped time and dimensions more times than he could count.

Yet here he was. After a year, _his_ New York almost felt alien. Downtown, the old New York, was once the Alien entity, but Now Miguel glided in the air and found himself seeking that spot in Empire State Building where he and Peter liked to talk, or that 24-hour café whose waitress didn't look at him weird for busting in there at four o'clock in the morning demanding a double espresso.

God, the coffee. The food. Nothing in 2099 –_ no, 2100_ – would compare to _real food_. The people here didn't know what they were missing. Never would.

At least St. Patrick's was still standing. So did Strange's house. Somewhere bellow, Roberta was _finally_ with her family. That was probably one weird reunion, but she sounded like she was happy. Miguel hoped that there wouldn't be any future split personality shenanigans for her. The whole trigger word thing just made life more complicated, if you asked him.

Father Jennifer should be alive here. Still at the church. It was probably the one time of the year when the church would look like a holy place instead of a raiding ground.

And Gabriel. His brother Gabriel. Where was he? Probably with Kasey. Miguel had thought at first that she'd ditch him as quickly as all if Gabe's previous girlfriends did, but now he knew better. He saw it in the different timelines. Those two would _definitely_ be together. He wondered if his mother was there too.

Where were they? In Gabri's apartment? Downtown, at Kasey's? Did he still own his own apartment? Tyler Stone sure had pulled plenty of string to get rid of him.

Then again, Tyler Stone was dead. At the hands of his grandkid. What a mindscrew. Miguel was avenged for his death before he even died.

He should call them. His family here. See how they were. Or maybe he should ask Lyla to track them and see them in person. There were some things you had to do in person.

Public Eye presence was thicker than usual, as was expected. Even a "year" later, Miguel knew the Public Eye's security roots and hotspots like the back of his hand.

This time last year, Miguel had taken Dana to an overpriced restaurant at the highest level of the city and eventually only talked about how the other idiots in the corporate raider program were slowing him down. Eventually she shut him up with a kiss. Then she got creative.

He wondered what they would all say if they saw him now. _Genetic mixing technology was a __**massive**__ success. Just look at me._

He wondered if Dana would be proud of him. So many things had gone wrong for them those last few days before… Before.

He wondered if she would like Tempest.

Would _Xina_ like Tempest. His first girlfriend had just vanished in the wind. He wondered what she would say if she found out Miguel had actually lived in the Heroic Era, short as that was. She always loved collecting its knickknacks.

Down bellow, everyone was celebrating, oblivious of his thoughts. He could see families all together. Miguel just felt a huge gap in his chest. He couldn't gather his whole family in one place. He didn't get to hold the infant Gabri in his arms and watch the crazy lady that was his mother freak out over him having kids. He wouldn't get to watch Kasey and Tempest torment his brother mercilessly.

Not if he did nothing about it.

He would get them back. He would get them all back.

His family. His whole family.

_(Kron didn't count. Kron should just stay in 2015 in whatever prison SHIELD or Atropos had seen fit to throw him in and _stay_ there.)_

_(Yes, he knew the risks.)_

_(Peter would understand. He pulled shit like that too.)_

He was Spider-Man. He would get it done.

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**Author notes: I recently read the whole series, and now that Spider-Man 2099 vol.4 has been announced, I felt the need to write something about it. Miguel just doesn't get enough love, and it's a shame, because the whole series is fantastic. I definitely recommend it. Do yourselves a favour and read it.**

**Title is the very last line of volume 3.**


End file.
